Sunday, December 17, 2006

On Marxism and Libertarianism

I like the idea of a libertarian taking a good, unbiased look at Marxism, although I think he misses a little in not really noticing some of the absolutely loony conclusions that Marxism ends up at. In general, all of the worst excesses of the 20th century-- genocides, agressive wars, mass starvation, ethnic cleansing -- seem to stem from governments, not from corporations. Indeed, of almost any century! To the extent that evils are perpetrated by corporations, it tends to be when corporations are given a state-supported monopoly, or are given state protection or state exemption from laws.

But I think it's a good thing to think about. What do we want, and why, and what is the best way to actually defend our individual liberties?

(For what it's worth, I am not a libertarian of the libertarian-anarchist variety, who thinks that the best outcome would be no govenment at all-- it is not at all clear to me that a true anarchy does not devolve into a society of thugs, warlords, and thieves, where the closest thing to law is protection rackets-- as, say, has happened in Somalia. It seems to me that some government is needed to support the legal system that allows commerce to function. However, this government needs to be strictly and vigorously kept small and to the point; it's the government's job to maintain our liberty, not to take it away, or to tell us what to do.)